Ziplining!

I have to say it was one of the highlights of the trip and probably one of my "top ten" life moments.

Once you step off the first time  and conquer the fear it becomes such a feeling of freedom and pure fun! And of course being all together made it even more exciting. We missed Ashlyn so much but treated her to a massage and facial on the ship! We had to keep that precious grand baby of ours tucked safely away!

We knew the zip line was going to be amazing and it did not disappoint. I can hardly wait to go back! We did 11 zips and one was so far that we couldn't even see the landing when we left the post. It was daunting just standing on the posts 100 feet up in the air. My sweet sis Sandy held onto that tree so tight we teased her she was going to have bark marks on her face.  

Beautiful Waterfalls!

Happy Happy Dad

Our ride up the mountain in the "I mog"

And silly Dave always keeps us laughing.....

Our Big Fat Greek Alaska Cruise~

It was a BLAST!!
Simply the best time we have ever had! It will be hard to describe the beauty and fun that was our life for those 8 days. But I am sure going to try!

Most everyone who has seen the photos has commented that we were always smiling!
And I have to agree....

We love to be together and have fun!

 Next up.....

The ahhhhmazing excursions!

Alaska!

Our trip to Alaska was amazing!

The glaciers spectacular....

The family dinners every night with so much laughter our stomachs ached....

I have over 200 photos and so many stories to share....

But I simply can't concentrate because of this!!! 

They surprised us the first night at dinner, and we are over the moon excited!

My sweet kids held the secret so they could surprise us with all my family there

We are blessed and I love this new baby so much already!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful grandbaby !!

Bragging Rights

I wish I didn't have such great kids, so I wouldn't have to brag so darn much !

But I do....

So I gotta ...

So indulge me once again if you would...

San Diego is a huge city
There are millions of people and lots of successful businessmen

And guess who was awarded the business award for the
"Top 40 under 40"

Our very own Travis Paul Carter !!

Travis was picked for this amazing award and the magazine will be coming out next month. He assured me he would get me a copy of the magazine, but I told him never mind that....

I will be driving down and snatching every copy in a 40 mile radius

I cant help it , I am just so proud of him!

Not only did he earn this great award, but he is only 27 for goodness sake!
This child of mine who has such a passion for square footage, people, and real estate has taken his interest and made a career doing what he LOVES!
And I love that he finds so much joy in his daily life! And I am so thankful that he is surrounded by the love and support of men who have mentored him along and who celebrate his growth and achievements

What a blessing !

Of course I could not wait until the magazine comes out to share the news when I saw that his Alma Mater wrote an article about him. Click here to read it.
We love you Trav and pray you always stay humble and sweet

I know you will !

Its who you are

The sweetest surprise

I arrived home to this adorable box from my childhood friend Jeanette! She filled it with my favorite candy {that she would tease me endlessly about liking when we were kids} Candy necklaces, nickel wafers, all that chalky candy that no one likes? Well they are my favorites!

I gave up sugar 6 weeks ago but have put my box away for a "binge day" and I am going to enjoy every sugary bite. I am going to put on those big red wax lips and "smoke" a candy cigarette while thinking of how very lucky I am to have a friend like her. She also included a framed picture of us girls, and one of me with her darling son Blake!

Now that's what I call a fun serendipity!

The note said "As sweet as all this candy is,you are so much sweeter to have been by my side during my fathers services"

Jeanette it was my honor~
Loving you just comes naturally! 
It always has....

Such a wonderful summer day!

Last Sunday we all met at our favorite spot for a family bonfire! My nephew Koby is going away to college in Oregon and we wanted to give him a fun send off....

Hunter, Koby and Proud Mom Kat                                        

I kept thinking how lucky our kids are to be surrounded by so much love and encouragement. Who could ever fail with all these arms of support around you..... 

It was the first time the older Greeks joined us and it made it even more special ! We're sure going to miss seeing him as often as we do, but we are so proud of him and  excited for his new opportunity.Koby has a heart of gold and I know God has big things planned for him  !
All day I missed Dave,Sandy and the Tennessee Krikac's and just hate that any of us are ever separated by distance. Chloe said it perfectly,
"We love to travel in packs and are happiest when we are all together!
Koby always remember your "pack" loves you  so much and is cheering for you with all our hearts!

          And we even practiced "The Carlton" 

26 Sleeps

We are so close to our Alaska adventure and my heart is overwhelmed with excitement!
In less than a month I will be with my family for 8 straight days and that alone makes me the happiest girl ever!
We have so many amazing adventures planned that were researched with every spare moment I had.
Clearly I have forgotten that I am a chubby, middle aged mom because we are signed up for some daring  crazy fun!

We will be zip-lining in Skagway on the newest and  largest zip line! We will be going over glacier fed waterfalls doing 11 zip lines plus 4 suspension bridges !  My palms are sweating just typing that out.

We will also be doing a private whale watching tour in Juneau and kayaking in Ketichikan

So we have the excursions planned, the reservations made for flights &  hotels.
But we were still missing one BIG thing
The official cruise dance.....
So an email went out to the family to learn this dance and be ready to "bring down the house" with this little number.


I even made it my ringtone so every time I hear it I do a little jig.
You might think we're kidding?  but No!
When Chad emailed me last week he even signed it
Love Carlton....

I love my family and we are going to leave this ship with some amazing memories! 

Chico Sticks....

This week I attended a funeral for the father of one of my childhood friends. Jeanette and  I grew up together on the same street our whole lives and we share so many memories of our childhood and school. She was my maid of honor 29 years ago and has been one of my dearest friends as long as I can remember. Sadly her sweet dad Frank passed away.It was such a bitter sweet day  because he had been ill and you feel the relief of knowing they are no longer struggling along with the sadness of not being able to see them again on this side of life.He was married to Jeanette's mom for 62 years!  We recalled them dancing in the living room and her jumping up to greet him at the door when he got home from work. Our other childhood friend Renee came so the three of us girls were together again.
And that always means laughs ..............
Lots of them !!
There was so much joy in remembering funny stories, and we took lots of trips down memory lane. Jeanette's sister lovingly placed a king size Hershey bar in the casket with her Dad. She remembered on Saturday nights he would go to Thriftys and get one and they would each get a few squares. So I jokingly told Renee to bury me with a Chico Stick when I pass away.  It was my favorite candy growing up and they used to tease me like crazy about that.
So when she came to the chapel guess what she brought me ? 

It is hard to convey in words what it is like to be in the presence of such sweet, old friends. No matter how many years go by you automatically pick up right where you left off. No awkwardness or fear of not knowing what to say. You just feel at  HOME ! And I always walk away missing them already. I'm sad it was a funeral that brought us together again but was so thankful to be able to be with Jeanette and her family at a time she needed support and "laughter through tears" because we sure had plenty!

How would any of us cope with loss without the strong arms of love and support from family and good friends?
I feel so incredibly blessed to have both !
I am looking forward to another 30 years of friendship with these amazing girls, creating more memories and having lots more giggles

I've grown accustomed to his face....

                                                                               { photo courtesy of Ashlyn }
We have been babysitting our "Grandpuppy" Bentley for the past 10 days while the kids were on vacation in Hawaii. At first I was a little apprehensive about having  another dog to feed, brush, and take care of. But my concerns sure didn't last long and now I find myself feeling so sad that he is leaving tomorrow! I miss him already! 
He and Brody have been having the BEST time...
They wrestle and snuggle and keep each other such good company.
And we have fallen in love with this little rascal !!

So Bents anytime you want to come visit YaYa the doggy door is always open!

Counting my blessings...

*family coming for a 4th of July sleep over

*knowing "Travlyn" are having a blast in Kauai with Ashlyns family

*my hemoglobin went up !!

*beautiful  summer sunrises on my way to work

*macaroni & cheese bite appetizer with the book babes
{seriously you will moan when you eat one, so we each had to have two }

*a sweet late night call from Sara because she couldn't sleep 

*the sweetest thank you card from Miss Kendall.It is so precious that I simply can not ever throw it away! How can a young lady at 18 be soooo sweet and thoughtful ? it restores my faith !

*happy  sunflowers from Ashlyn in the cutest vase with a bow

*two phone calls from my brother Paul , I don't get to talk to him that often, but I love that he loves me! 

*My good book, with a icy lemonade, and my feet up in the back yard, cozy in my jammies 

What about you...What little blessings are you thankful for this week? Please share!
I would love to share your joy! 

Private ???

Well the time has come when I am contemplating going private with my blog. My spam comments are out of control and I realized people from literally everywhere are reading my posts. I am such an open book and I feel a bit creeped out that people from Turkey, Cambodia, Qatar {didn't even know that was a country} Poland and all over the world can know so much about my life and family. It's such a fine line because I have met some wonderful people who came upon my blog from a friend , or maybe they just stumbled upon it and  stayed.  
Which I LOVE!! 
Even blog "friends"are precious to my heart

I myself love to blog jump and would be sad if some of my regular spots went private? So I am thinking it over and trying to get the right advice so I make a good  decision.If you would like to be given access please leave a comment with your email address and I will be sure to add it to the list. I so appreciate my readers and everyone who thinks a stop by "crazy land" to check on Karen is worth a visit.

Love you all and wish you a week filled with love and giggles!

*

The older you get, the sillier you get....
Great quote and I sure find it to be true!

I love nothing more than being silly , and when you throw in a few good friends it's sooooo much better! 
We had such a nice night with our friends the "Richardsons" Their son Zack {who grew up with Travis} got married a couple weeks ago and some of us were unable to make the trip to what I have heard was one heck of an amazing wedding! EVERYONE had the best time and had such gracious things to say about the gorgeous bride and groom.

So they invited us over to dinner, to see the photos and keep the celebration going. ....
We had so much fun!

Our great hosts....

I have always envied the kind of friendships that last through the years. I dreamed that one day I would have those kind of people in my life.The kind of friends who accept you just as you are and are able to see you through eyes filled with love and grace. And guess what ?
I have the friends  I always dreamed of!  With these lovely girls, my bunco family,the book babes and my precious sisters in law.....
My life is full of amazing women and I can simply be "me"  in their good company  

I loved and admired the friendships in this movie! They got through the tough parts of life because they had each other. I sure know the feeling !
It is only with the love and support of family and friends that I can even get through a day!
And to each of you I say...
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart"  
And lets not ever stop being silly! 

God is so sweet!

Today would have been my sweet momma's 80th birthday!
I woke up thinking about her so much and of course the tears began to flow....
I still miss her so so much......every single day!
This morning I was trying hard to put on a brave face and just focus on all the wonderful,happy memories we have of my precious  Mom~
So after drying my tears, I made a phone call to my Dr's office and you will never believe the music that was playing while I was on hold ?




From her all time favorite movie
" The Sound of Music"
Seriously what are the chances?
I don't believe in coincidences , I believe in miracles and this one felt like a
BIG HUG from my Mom!

The very song that she would sing to us every single night as we fell asleep!

God is sweet.....
And I am thankful that He lovingly blessed me this morning with a song and a smile !